Chapter 10

Narrative Concepts in Film

Almost any topic is a good one for a film production. It doesn’t matter if it is a weekend breaks with friends, the digging of a pond in the garden or the difficult living conditions in a home for asylum seekers. People just love stories There is evidence that since the very beginning of human history stories have always been important. A story offering a new perspective, interesting insights and surprising details, can afford having some flaws regarding craftsmanship and technical perfection.

Many movies follow specific narrative concepts which we will present here. A film comes into being in the edit suite, despite of it being based on a shooting script, or a storyboard. Only the editing reveals if it is possible to tell a gripping tale with the existing footage.

This is even more true of non-fiction films like documentaries, feature reports or shorter journalistic formats.
Documentary films are not based on a script. When the shooting starts there is nothing but some kind of concept or a treatment.